The remarkable life of the father of English hymnody

Soon after Charlotte and I married, my mother-in-law revealed to me her secret for staying awake during long and boring sermons. “I leaf through the hymnal,” she said, “The composers of so many of the hymns are so much more eloquent than the preachers. Just take Isaac Watts.” Our former Associate Rector James Johnson would undoubtedly agree with her. Indeed more than a decade ago he penned his appreciation in the essay published below. GPH✠

Isaac Watts was born on July 17, 1674 at Southampton, England. He was the oldest of nine children. A precocious child, Isaac possessed an insatiable thirst for knowledge and manifested remarkable literary abilities.

At the tender age of four he began studying Latin; at five he began studies in Greek, and at the age of ten, Hebrew. When he was only seven years old, he wrote an acrostic based upon his name which revealed his exceptional ability to write poetry as well as his remarkable theological understanding.

I: I am a vile, polluted lump of earth;
S: So I’ve continued ever since my birth;
A: Although Jehovah grace doth daily give me;
A: As sure this monster, Satan, will deceive me;
C: Come therefore, Lord, from Satan’s claws relieve me;
W: Wash me in thy blood, O Christ;
A: And grace divine impart;
T: Then search and try the corners of my heart;
T: That I in all things may be fit to do;
S: Service to thee and thy praise too.

His father was the headmaster of a boarding school in Southampton and was aligned theologically with a dissenting congregational church. Because of his independent views, the elder Watts was persecuted by the established church and twice imprisoned for his nonconformist religious views during the reign of Charles II.

In 1690, when Isaac was 16, he followed the example of his father and openly aligned himself the Dissenters. He received a generous offer to attend a respected English university on the condition that he would become an Anglican priest.

However, he opted instead to sit under the teaching of an independent Congregational pastor, Thomas Rowe, who pastored a small independent church in London and was the principal of a small college committed to training young men for the ministry.

Watts quickly established himself as an exemplary student, excelling in his philosophical and theological studies. He successfully completed his studies in 1694 at 20 years of age, after which he returned home. For the next several years he remained with his parents, dedicating much of his time to theological study and hymn writing.

All of his hymns were characterized by their emphasis on God’s glory and majesty and could rightly be described as being “thoroughly Scriptural, reverent and sublime.” But it should be remembered that in those days original hymns were rare and generally looked upon with disfavor by the Church.

Watts was nevertheless extremely dissatisfied with the poor quality of the hymns of his day, which were more often monotonously droned than sung. Because of his dissatisfaction, Watts was determined to do his best to elevate the worship of God to the spiritual heights it rightly deserved.

But because of his reform efforts, he was generally viewed by his contemporaries as too controversial. His hymns were seen as being of mere “human composure” as opposed to the accepted metrical Psalms which were also in common use in the churches of that day.

One Sunday, during Watts’ 18th year, he expressed his overall displeasure with the hymns of the day to his father. The elder Watts retorted to his son, “That old hymnal was good enough for your grandfather and your father, so I reckon it will have to be good enough for you! If you do not like our hymns, then let me hear one you have written which is better!”

The younger Watts replied, “Father, I have one which is better.” And indeed he did. In fact, he wrote well over six hundred hymns that were better!

Some of the better known titles that came from his gifted and prolific pen were, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” “Jesus Shall Reign, (based on Psalm 72)” “Joy to the World” (based on Psalm 98), “Our God Our Help in Ages Past” (based on Psalm 90 – interestingly, John Wesley changed Watt’s original “Our God” to “O God” when he included the hymn in his hymnal Psalms and Hymns which was published in 1738) – and “Am I a Soldier of the Cross?” The latter hymn was written by Watts to complement a sermon he was to preach on I Corinthians 16:13: “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit ye like men, be strong.”

While Watt’s hymns encountered much opposition and hostility during his own day, he has come to be universally regarded as “the father of English hymnody” by succeeding generations of Christians.

In 1698, at the age of 24, Watts was called to assist Dr. Isaac Chauncy at the Independent Church in Mark Lane, London. Dr. Chauncy retired from his pastorate in 1702 and Watts was called to replace him. Many of the hymns Watts penned were written specifically for his congregation and were used to complement his sermons.

Watts was a prolific writer: In 1705, he published his first volume of poems entitled Lyrical Poems. This work was warmly received in both England and America.

In 1707, he published his first collection of hymns under the title Hymns and Songs. This was the first “true” hymnal in the English language. This volume contained two hundred and ten hymns, including “Alas, and Did My Saviour Bleed (based on Psalm 22:6).”

In 1712, Watts, who suffered from ill health for much of his life, became seriously ill with a fever, which almost took his life. While recovering from this illness, Sir Thomas Abney invited Watts, a life-long bachelor, to visit his home at Theobalds, hoping the change in climate would facilitate his recovery. Intending to stay for only a few weeks, Watts ended up staying the next 36 years!

While living with the Abney family, Watts continued to write and discharge his pastoral duties. In 1719, Watts produced his Divine and Moral Songs for Children, which has been described as “the delight of infant minds from that day to the present and probably will be for ages to come.” And in the same year, he published Psalms of David, which included “Our God Our Help in Ages Past” and “Joy to the World.”

In addition to his poetry and hymns, Watts also produced several volumes of sermons and his Treatise on Logic, which was used a textbook at Oxford University.

In 1728, Watts was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from both Edinburgh and Aberdeen Universities.

But the hymn considered by many to be the finest hymn ever written in the English language was first published in 1702 and is entitled, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” This hymn without question is one of the most lofty and sublime hymns ever written.

Watts wrote this marvelous hymn in preparation for an upcoming communion service he was to conduct. The inspiration came as he meditated upon the tremendous truths declared in Galatians 6:14: “But God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”

Watts authored these powerful lines, which acknowledge God’s marvelous redemptive work and the heartfelt commitment that this divine work should elicit in those who name the name of Christ.

Isaac Watts, the “father of English hymnody,” died on November 25, 1748, at 75 years of age. On his death bed, he proclaimed, “It is the plain promises of the Gospel that are my support; and I bless God that they are plain promises that do not require much labour and pains to understand them; for I can do nothing now but look into my Bible for some promise to support me, and live upon that.” Amen to that. JVJ✠

SOURCES: Living Stories of Famous Hymns – Ernest K. Emurian, Baker Book House; Treasury of Hymn Stories – Amos R Wells, Baker Book House; 101 & 101 More Hymn Stories – Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregal Publications; Songs of Glory – William J Reynolds, Zondervan Publishing House